1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical apparatus, devices and/or systems for performing minimally invasive surgical procedures and methods of use thereof. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining an end of life state for electromechanical, hand-held surgical apparatus, devices and/or systems configured for use with removable disposable loading units and/or single use loading units for clamping, cutting and/or stapling tissue.
2. Background of Related Art
A number of surgical device manufacturers have developed product lines with proprietary drive systems for operating and/or manipulating electromechanical surgical devices. Some electromechanical surgical devices include a handle assembly, which is reusable, and replaceable loading units and/or single use loading units or the like that are selectively connected to the handle assembly prior to use and then disconnected from the handle assembly following use, in order to be disposed of or in some instances sterilized for re-use.
Typically, electromechanical surgical devices have an end of life that is predetermined during the engineering development phase and hard set within each device that is sold. Thus, all the devices have an identical lifespan regardless of factors which may reduce or prolong useful life of the device.
Accordingly, a need exists for determining an end of life state for electromechanical surgical apparatus, devices and/or systems in order to reduce or prolong the useful life of the device.